Chapter 567 503: Nangong Jin: "Ji Shenyun, I beg you, don't torment Brother Pei's body.

In the damp, gloomy dungeon, the last torch had long since gone out, leaving only a few wisps of smoke to dissipate silently in the dark.

Nangong Jin was suspended in mid-air by cold chains, yet she was completely oblivious to the pain.

She tilted her head back slightly, watching the water droplets seeping from the ceiling above. One drop, two drops... they struck the ground, sending hollow echoes through the deathly silent cell.

Two days...

In the past, two days would have passed in the blink of an eye, slipping away unnoticed during a single session of meditative cultivation.

But now, every moment felt like it was stretched into an endless torment.

The darkness devoured time, and the silence amplified her heartbeat.

Nangong Jin, who had yet to reclaim her emotions, didn't know that this strange feeling stirring inside her was called fear.

However, Nangong Jin wasn't afraid for her own safety.

What she thought of day and night was the handsome, white-robed figure who had soothed her with a gentle yet firm gaze before he left.

"Brother Pei... why haven't you returned?"

"Does it really take this long just to attend to that Female Demon's feeding?"

Nangong Jin murmured, her voice so soft it almost vanished into the darkness.

Her eyes, which should have been as cold and still as water, now held a faint flicker of anxiety she herself had yet to notice.

'Is that Female Demon making Brother Pei do things for her... things beyond just draining his Essence Blood, and hiding it all from me...'

At this thought, she frowned slightly as all sorts of terrible speculations uncontrollably flooded her mind—

'What could that temperamental Female Demon possibly need Brother Pei to do?'

'Was there some hidden meaning in Brother Pei's reassuring gaze before he left, something I failed to see?'

'I can't shake the feeling that Brother Pei is hiding many things from me, shouldering them all alone.'

'No... I can't keep letting my mind run wild.'

Nangong Jin squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath, trying to suppress the unfamiliar restlessness in her chest.

'I shouldn't be this concerned about Brother Pei's safety. I cultivate the Forgetfulness Dao; my heart is supposed to be like still water, free of all desire.'

'Right now, my first priority should be to carry out what Brother Pei asked of me...'

She forced herself to calm her mind and focus, her fingertips gently caressing the Silver Ring as she tried to undo the Restriction within it.

But just as she was about to sink into a meditative state, the rhythmic dripping of water would suddenly become piercingly clear in her ears.

DRIP—

DRIP—

Each sound was like a tap on her heart, sending her thoughts drifting uncontrollably far away.

Brother Pei's face appeared before her eyes once more—

His gentle smile, his eyes as clear and brilliant as diamonds, the taste of his blood from the finger he'd placed in her mouth before his departure...

Brother Pei's blood... it was so searingly hot.

It was hot enough to make the tip of her tongue tremble, and even now it continued to burn within her perfectly flat stomach, helping her resist the dungeon's encroaching, bone-chilling cold.

Feeling Brother Pei's blood inside her was like being held in his arms. So warm.

It melted the cold, empty state of mind she had cultivated for the Forgetfulness Dao.

It was as if she wasn't imprisoned in this dungeon alone; Brother Pei was watching over her in another form.

But...

'But for that very reason, I'm being too deeply influenced by Brother Pei's blood...'

'His blood is slowly dulling the detached and efficient rationality I once possessed.'

Nangong Jin opened her eyes, a rare hint of confusion flashing through them.

'I cultivate the Forgetfulness Dao. I'm supposed to sever all emotion and desire... But because Brother Pei's scorching Essence Blood burns within my abdomen...'

'...I can't stop thinking of Brother Pei, and I can't calm my mind at all...'

'I crave this feeling, yet I know this is not how a proper Cultivator of the Forgetfulness Dao should act.'

She looked down at her hands, her fingertips trembling slightly.

The unfamiliar emotion churned in her chest like a hidden current beneath a frozen lake, and she didn't even know what to call it—

Worry? Fear? Or...

Just as Nangong Jin was sinking into a mire of thoughts, a voice as gentle and smooth as jade suddenly pierced the dungeon's silence—

"Junior Sister Nangong, are you all right?"

Pei Yuhang's voice was like a spring breeze, instantly scattering the gloom that had weighed on her heart for days.

Nangong Jin looked up, pushed aside her troubling thoughts, and gave the newcomer a faint but genuine smile.

"Brother Pei!"

At the entrance to the passageway, Pei Yuhang slowly approached, holding a lustrous Luminous Pearl.

A soft halo of light swirled around him, illuminating his weary yet still gentle face.

Nangong Jin wasn't sure if it was her imagination, but it seemed Brother Pei had changed his clothes; this wasn't the same outfit he'd been wearing two days ago...

Furthermore, the collar of Pei Yuhang's robes was covered in wrinkles, as if it had been grabbed, hinting that the past two days had not been easy for him.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Junior Sister."

"That Female Demon is... quite a handful.

I had to pull out all the stops just to get this chance to see you. I'm afraid the next time I can visit won't be for another three days."

Pei Yuhang took down the extinguished torch and replaced it with the Luminous Pearl from his hand.

As light once again filled the dungeon, Pei Yuhang could finally see Nangong Jin's wretched state.

The pride of the heavens, renowned throughout the Cultivation Realm for being as cool and transcendent as the bright moon, was now bound tightly in chains and covered in filth, like a Fairy banished to the Mortal World.

Pei Yuhang reached out, stroking his junior sister's dry, lifeless hair. With his gaze lowered, he said softly,

"Junior Sister Nangong, you've suffered."

Nangong Jin heard the apology in Pei Yuhang's voice and shook her head.

"No, Brother Pei. You're the one who has truly suffered."